Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi

Has anybody here seen much of this? This was one of the promotions that came out of the ashes of UWF when it went out of business in 1990, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Karl Gotch took Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, and Wayne Shamrock with them from the UWF and they put on some damn good shows. Shamrock vs Sano is one hell of a match, also I love Napataya the thai boxer that murks the japanese wrestlers(until he fights Suzuki).

They really blurred the line between work and shoot a lot better than Rings or UWFI did and as far as the technique they were using they were freakishly ahead of their time for 1991(I seen Suzuki go for a twister in one match). Funaki, Suzuki, and Shamrock broke off from this org and started Pancrase in 1993 as I'm sure you already know. I watched the King Of Pancrase tournament from December 1994 and honestly every single match on the card looked worked ala PWFG, even Frank vs Bas kinda looked like a PWFG match. So was Pancrase worked? I mean a good bit of that first round of that tournament was obviously worked for sure, no doubt about it.

Shamrock could have cracked Royce’s jaw with one punch in UFC1 if he wanted to, but he’s a good worker and jobbed like the booker in the back told him to.

Hughes vs Gracie was a shoot though. Rapist and animal fucker Matt wasn’t gonna let the Brazilian have his way with him. Backstage in gorilla, Hughes was overheard saying “This guy doesn’t even have KO power so he has to rely on lame chokes. I can’t sell this shit.” He went off script and the rest is history.

Supposedly Pancrase evolved from a work to a shoot over the years, Shamrock talks about it in his book
The early fights, like his obvious match against Matt Hume, were works but once the Dutch kickboxers got involved it became shootfighting with modified rules
Been a long time since I read the story but I think thats how it went

Supposedly Pancrase evolved from a work to a shoot over the years, Shamrock talks about it in his book
The early fights, like his obvious match against Matt Hume, were works but once the Dutch kickboxers got involved it became shootfighting with modified rules
Been a long time since I read the story but I think thats how it went

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Pancrase had a couple of works, but it was intended to be shoot from the beginning. Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki linked up with Karl Gotch and wanted to create a fighting fed, that's the whole reason they left.

Where the "work" philosophy comes into place is on the topic of building stars. These guys were pro wrestlers by heart, so they were thinking in terms of the build. There was a lot of misrepresenting people, stars "struggling" with cans until a "hail mary" sub, and even a few accused dives. But as far as having a booker and whatnot, that was never the case for Pancrase. After a while, they realized the sport had appeal, and stopped trying to pop crowds with the gimmicks. That's how they became what we know now.

Granted Shooto had been doing this for a hot minute by this point though, but we like to forget them.

Pancrase had a couple of works, but it was intended to be shoot from the beginning. Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki linked up with Karl Gotch and wanted to create a fighting fed, that's the whole reason they left.

Where the "work" philosophy comes into place is on the topic of building stars. These guys were pro wrestlers by heart, so they were thinking in terms of the build. There was a lot of misrepresenting people, stars "struggling" with cans until a "hail mary" sub, and even a few accused dives. But as far as having a booker and whatnot, that was never the case for Pancrase. After a while, they realized the sport had appeal, and stopped trying to pop crowds with the gimmicks. That's how they became what we know now.

Granted Shooto had been doing this for a hot minute by this point though, but we like to forget them.

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It's funny how Shooto is also looked upon as an incredibly important company in making MMA, but we all seem to gloss over its pro wrestling ties.

I feel 100% confident that at least 8 of the 12 matches on the first round of the King Of Pancrase Tournament show(December 16th 1994) were worked, I still think at least 2 of the other 4 were worked as well(Suzuki vs Hume, Bas vs Frank 1) but I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, the only ones that don't look worked to me are the two Ken Shamrock matches but I'd say they were still at least possible to be works(given some of the stiff natural looking works I've seen in PWFG). If they were worked Shamrock really stiffed those guys, he clubs Mo Smith upside the head with a palm strike that knocks him across the ring at one point in that match.

Also Funaki's win over Shamrock just 7 days before UFC 3 has to be a work right? There was too much money on the line for Shamrock to risk an injury in a shoot against Funaki just 7 days prior to UFC 3? Ken was on the poster for UFC 3 and was one of the main draws for that show. That match definitely looks worked.

Also I never realized Ken won the 16 man King Of Pancrase tournament beating 4 guys in 2 nights at the exact same time Royce won UFC 4(which took place the same night as the first round of the KOP tourny), makes their rivalry/collision course that much more awesome. Ken is so bad ass in this stage of his career, his entrance for the Bas fight was fucking boss(and that fight is excellent and looked to be a shoot to me).

It was a breath of fresh air compared to american pro-wrestling and lucha libre at the time and it brought forth some legit badasses. Even going back to UWFi, the stuff guys like Takada, Albright and Vader were doing really stands the test of time. Still, one universal truth remains: hookers are tougher than shooters.

Also Funaki's win over Shamrock just 7 days before UFC 3 has to be a work right? There was too much money on the line for Shamrock to risk an injury in a shoot against Funaki just 7 days prior to UFC 3? Ken was on the poster for UFC 3 and was one of the main draws for that show. That match definitely looks worked.
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Ken said the japanese promoters were nervous of their champ being subbed again so they asked him to drop the title.